Story Paths and Relationships in Hero-U

There are a lot of "black and white" games out there. They give the players two paths – good or evil, etc. That's an improvement over making the player sit through a linear, non-branching story.

But we can do better. Yes/No, Either/Or, Binary pathing is so last century! It's also not the way life works.

Quest for Glory broke the mold of D&D-style games by eliminating experience levels. Instead, players gradually improved each of their skills through practice. In Hero-U, we are doing the same thing for character relationships. All of your actions during the game will affect how others see you, and how they react in turn.

No two players are likely to see the exact same story in Hero-U. Each player will forge their own relationships, and choose where to spend their time. The subtle connection between these decisions will affect many aspects of game play.

This won't as simple as "You're a Thief" or "You're a Rogue Hero." The game – like real life – will be much more complex and layered. Shades of grey mean something in Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption.

Let's say for instance you've been friendly to one of the other students. Maybe that student saw you in the hallway after curfew, but she'll keep quiet about it. Or maybe she'll mention a useful book in the library. If things work out, maybe you can develop a romantic relationship.

Of course, the opposite is true too. Maybe someone else is jealous of that budding relationship, and decides to make you look bad. There are a lot of ways for a Rogue to find revenge. Maybe one of your teachers will stand up for you, or maybe everyone will hang you out to dry. Everything you do in the game will affect someone's attitude towards you, positively, negatively, or sideways. That would be the case when a plot element hinges on your actions, and a character decides you might be useful to them... or not.

The people who write walkthroughs for games are going to have a hard time with Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. The players, on the other hand, may find themselves playing the game over and over, trying to see what changes when they take a different attitude. The developers will need to develop some automated tests to check out all the options.

Pixels for Breakfast in Australia interviewed us. They plan to do a series of updates about the game as we develop it.

We're doing two phone interviews on Tuesday, and have three more email interviews in the pipeline.

If you see a media site that hasn't yet covered Hero-U, suggest they contact us.

Spooky New Support Options

Check out our new Halloween-special reward tiers:

$65 Beta Tau Initiate: Join the fraternity or sorority with access to the Beta and Combat Balance tests. Help us make Hero-U the way you want it.

$125 Frat Rat: A big enhancement to the $75 physical boxed game tier. You will get your very own Toy Meep to help you get into the game.

NOTE: Every physical tier above $125 will also get the toy meep. We know you want one, and we won't make you downgrade to get it! :-)

$175 Exchange Student: By popular request, an enhanced ALL-DIGITAL tier designed particularly for our international backers and anyone who just wants digital rewards. You get INSIDER ACCESS to the game development, plus digital keys to the entire Quest for Glory series, MacGuffin's Curse, and Jolly Rover. Watch, learn, and contribute to the game development.

$2,000 Art Lover: This is something totally special and unique. We've been offered access to a very small number of the original paintings used to create Quest for Glory 3 and 4. Because we have so few, and we have to pay for them, we have to make this a high-tier reward for very dedicated fans. This is your chance to own a piece of gaming history. You will also get all of the rewards associated with the $1,050 Doctor of Fine Arts tier.

Forward Progress

In other news, we are committing to the "Kick It Forward" program. Brian Fargo of InXile, developers of the Kickstarter-funded Wasteland 2 project, started this initiative to ensure the future of gaming on Kickstarter. We wholeheartedly support this initiative, and believe it is the responsibility of successfully-funded games to Kick It Forward.

Here's how the program works - ZERO of the funds you contribute to our Kickstarter campaign will be used - those are COMPLETELY allocating to funding Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. When we complete and ship the game, we will regularly take 5% of the net revenues from game sales and commit them to other Kickstarter projects. Lori and I intend to pick projects that we believe promote heroism and/or quality games that are more about story and characters than violence. Again, this will NOT come out of your contributions - Kicking It Forward revenues are from new sales of the game after we launch it. Visit http://kickingitforward.org/ to learn more about the initiative and other projects that have committed to kick some of their profits forward.

More Testimonials

Thank you all for your kind words, support, and sharing the Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption project with your friends. By all working together, we can turn this dream into an amazing reality. Here are a few comments from our backers:

Ken Williams (founder and former CEO of Sierra On-Line):
Corey and Lori, Congratulations!!!! It is awesome to see you back doing games. It feels almost like Sierra is somewhat living on; with you doing this, Scott and Mark doing a game, Jane Jensen working on a game, and even Al Lowe back working on a game. I'm still horrified by how Sierra died after the company was sold. This recent rebirth via Kickstart, and the fan support it has received, is amazing. I hope you get funded, and build something incredible!

Stefan Brauner:
QFG was an eye opener to me on countless levels. First RPG ever, first taste of middle-eastern culture(which I grew to love!!!) and since I'm from Germany a terrific tool to improve one's English skills.
I really hope this will succeed as the Coles had such a huge impact on my attitude towards other cultures giving me faith that other generations nowadays may benefit by the educational potential of a similar game even greater.
The spirit of Sierra prevails and it is a good thing!

Brandon Klassen ("The Art of Sierra" book):
Why Lori and Corey Cole's Hero-U Kickstarter deserves to succeed... I don't have any doubt that the Hero-U Kickstarter will be a success. It has so many things going for it. But at the center of it all are two wonderful, warm and creative people, two people who spent close to three hours video chatting with just a small number of fans late last night / early this morning. They had intended for this first of a number of planned chats to have a wider audience, but hadn't realized (and neither did anyone planning to attend, I guess) that Google+ Hangout only allows in 10 people per session (apparently). Live and learn, technical challenges overcome, onwards and upwards, and better things to come! Lori and Corey were simply a delight - I'm certain that those who were there felt like we were all just sitting in Lori and Corey's living room as close friends, laughing and talking and trying on Hangout's Silly Hats. So not only do I believe in the talent of the Hero-U team - that they will create a fun gaming experience worth supporting - I believe most in the two original heros at the heart of it all, who have already been schooling us in the ways of heroes for many years. You've graduated from the Famous Adventurer's Correspondance School... now attend Hero University - in person! There is much more to learn... there are more adventures around every corner... this story may have glory... I can't wait to embark on this brand new Hero's quest, told by two of the most interesting and dearest instructors one could be privileged to have.

Chris Brown:
Thank you for doing this Kickstarter (and talking to people on here)! The Quest for Glory series was my favorite from Sierra's golden age. (Sierra had many great games, but QfG gives choices as well as memorable characters, locations, and its sense of humor. Also, the music.) Hero-U looks like it takes some of the themes from those games in a new direction. This is a great opportunity, and I'm excited not only for the game but for the team that's been assembled. Fund Hero-U!

James Vaughan:
I just wanted to tell you that you guys are my literal heroes. I grew up with Hero's Quest and the rest of the Quest for Glory games (QFG2 is my favorite game of all time) and have played them all so much I can't even count the number of playthroughs I've had. Your humor and stories have helped shape me into the honest and hard-working person I am today and I just wanted to let you know how excited I am for you to be back in the fray of making games.
Best of luck to you both, and thanks for being such inspirational people!

Will Jennings:
I'm dropping a line to say just how much your games have affected me throughout my early computer gaming life. They were the pinnacle of excellence for the point and click genre and the Quest for Glory series remain my favorite games to date. I am 35 now and when I was 13 and 14 playing those games was a great escape and just plain some of the most fun I have ever had. I played through as a rogue/mage through every one of the games other than Dragon Fire, by then I was 17 or 18 and playing computer games was a distant memory to me as I found myself hanging out with friends more and 'partying'. But I have long since returned to the gaming scene and am looking forward to you next project.

Shane: Yes, the catacomb and school parts of this game are very closely integrated, and your character relationships will affect dungeon exploration. I would say they are even closer than in Persona, since in that game the combat action took place in a separate "imaginary" universe. Here, it's all one story.

I noted Persona as one of your lists of influences for the game and had a suspicion that you'd be doing something with these kinds of character relationship variables. I think it's a great idea to take some story sensibilities from that franchise. This leads me to a Question: Like Persona, will social interactions and choices affect some form of combat perks in addition to story moments?

So many games have promised organicly grown stories based on character interactions, so far they've all been a disappointment. I have no doubts though that the Coles will deliver, they've already created the best roleplaying adventure game series before, and I am ready to see them do it again!

I love the way the character interactions will affect the game play. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will have the same outcomes every time I play, but we'll see... (I just can't shake that goody two-shoes Paladin persona, even if I'm supposed to be playing a rogue.)